Philosophy 186B

A course of close reading and detailed discussion of central parts of Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations (1953). Other works by Wittgenstein and some interpretative commentary will be introduced occasionally, but the emphasis throughout will be on reading, understanding, and discussing this book. The book embodies a conception of philosophy as a certain kind of intellectual activity, not simply defense of philosophical doctrines or theories, so the course is likely to be most interesting and of the greatest value to those students willing to respond in open discussion to the thoughts and lines of inquiry presented there. Those responses themselves can serve as part of the “data” for philosophical investigation. This requires active engagement in discussion in class and in weekly discussion-sections and in any other settings that present themselves to interested students. The course is meant to be as much as possible an exercise in doing philosophy, not simply in studying or commenting on the philosophical views of others.